Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has described Ekiti State as one of the most difficult states to rule despite being among the least populated.

Fayemi, who is marking one year of his second term today, said if you are not connected with the grassroots you cannot win an election in Ekiti because ‘’you have three million governors in Ekiti and everybody is opinionated.

I am not a social animal. I don’t go to parties but these days I do.

Ekiti Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State In an interaction with journalists in Lagos, Fayemi, who lamented that most of the legacy programmes of his first term were abandoned by the immediate past administration of Mr Ayo Fayose, said he has re-started the projects and programmes.

My achievements in one year

He listed his achievements in the last one year to include: regular payment of salary; increasing Ekiti share of Value Added Tax, VAT; paying part of salary arrears, which jumped from one month when he left office in 2014 to 10 months when he returned last year; fixing access roads; rehabilitating dams; constructing pipelines; rebuilding hospitals and schools; paying N5000 social welfare to the elderly; payment of WAEC and NECO fees of students, re-introduction of free education; school feeding programme; handing over mission schools to their owners; embarking on the proposed Ekiti airport project and agro-allied projects with the assistance of the World Bank and African Development Bank, ADB among others.

In the next three years, the governor said the airport project, Agric processing zone with rice, and cassava processing mills and silos, building Smart City (knowledge zone), reconstructing the Ado-Akure Road, and taking Ekiti out of the economy of civil service, would be pursued with vigour.

Vowing to take Ekiti back to the top as education state, he said he has no apology for insisting that Ekiti should return to its pride of place.

It’s sad people misunderstand clamour for state police, restructuring

Fayemi, who said he remains an apostle of restructuring, said it is unfortunate that people misunderstand the clamour for state police because the state police have a different mandate from the Federal Police, which he said were suffering from the tyranny of unfunded mandate.

Nigeria a two-tier federation, not three-tier

Fayemi also spoke on the minimum wage logjam and controversies over governors’ control of local council funds.

According to him, the rift over the NFIU’s proposals and the controversy over local government autonomy had shifted to the court, adding that parties in the dispute cannot take further steps outside the constitution, and the case will come up on October 26.

He said it is unconstitutional to regard local councils as the third tier of government. His words: “As far as we are concerned, the position of the NGF on the issue is the position of the law.

There is no law that has been passed in the country on local government autonomy.

There have been several attempts, but it has never gotten 24 states Houses of Assembly out of the 36 in the country to make it happen.”

The governor insisted that Nigeria is a two-tier federation. “Nigeria is not a three-tier federation; the talk about Nigeria being a three-tier federation is a distortion; it is just an aberration that we even have to go to Abuja to get approval on local governments. “If you want to create 200 local governments, it is your business because you and your people in your state should figure it out. It should not be the business of Abuja because that for me is surreptitious unitarism.

You cannot go behind to do what the constitution does not allow you to do and that was what informed our position at the NGF over the ridiculous instruction to banks. “You know that you cannot confront us; you are now going to bankers.

What is the business of the banks with the accounts maintained by the local government as long as the accounts are funded and the proper persons run the accounts? “Besides that, what is the business of the NFIU on local government funds? When you read the NFIU law, NFIU monitors what is going on in the banking system, internationally and locally and if you have a specific case of money laundering, please bring it up.

You cannot have a general rule to address a unique problem. “You can’t because you want to fight money laundering; you now say that states and local governments cannot run joint accounts, which is in the constitution of Nigeria. Section 162 and we have a case pending in court on the issue.”

Why strike over minimum wage ‘ll be futile

Pleading with workers not to embark on the planned strike billed to begin today in the interest of the country Fayemi said the economy cannot accommodate 45 per cent wage increase for all levels of workers.

Agreeing that N30,000 is not a living wage, he said while there is a need for consequential adjustments for workers on lower levels, it will harm the economy further to raise the salaries of higher levels of workers.

He appealed to workers not to down tools, averring that strike might be a futile exercise because ‘’you cannot promise what you don’t have.’’ His words: ‘’We don’t want workers to down tools. You may recall that when the negotiations started the governors’ proposal was N24,000.

The negotiations went back and forth and we ended up with N30,000, and the governors in principle we said we will pay. ‘’However, in private discussions with the President, we made it clear that this is another recipe for a future bailout.

When it was N18,000 we were struggling. I don’t consider N30,000 a living wage in today’s Nigeria, let’s be frank. But you cannot promise what you don’t have. We agreed N30,000; We all agreed that we will look for a way to boost the revenue going to the states.

We have been working on that. We don’t want workers to down tools. However, we have also made it clear. During the tripartite negotiation, we made it clear and labour leaders agreed with us that a national minimum wage law is not tantamount to a general wage increase.

The fact that we move people who are below N30,000 to N30,000 and above does not automatically mean that we do the same thing for people who are earning N400,000. It is a minimum wage law, not a general wage law. Consequential adjustment should not go beyond levels 8 and 9.

We proposed a nine per cent increase for Levels 7 -12; and five per cent for levels 13 and above and they said no, they want 45 per cent for everybody. Of course, that is difficult, where are they going to get it from? This economy is in the doldrums. If you have an economy where your debt servicing is N2.4 trillion, what are we talking about? I hope good sense will prevail and they realise that the strike is a futile exercise

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has called on Nigerians and politicians alike to respect the nation’s hard-earned democracy. Yakubu while speaking on the forthcoming governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi state said Nigeria’s democracy is not for sale.

Also warning against vote-buying and all forms of electoral malpractices, the INEC boss said Nigeria’s democracy is not in the open market.

While addressing attendees of INEC’s meeting with some traditional leaders in Bayelsa state on Tuesday, October 15, Mahmood said elections in the country have always been marred by various forms of vote-buying. He said: “Our first concern is the actions and utterances that are likely to lead to the breach of peace during the campaign, during voting on election day and during the collation of results.” “

Another challenge is the recurring problem of vote-buying. Our democracy cannot be on sale on the open market; citizens should be allowed to choose whoever they wish to vote for on election day without inducement,” Mahmood said.

Promising that INEC would do all within its powers to ensure neutrality as the commission has no hand in who becomes the governor of the state. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that some political parties were disqualified by INEC ahead of the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states. The parties, eight in Kogi and six in Bayelsa were said to have been disqualified for fielding invalid candidates ahead of the election.

Kogi Guber: I will definitely defeat Yahaya Bello – Audu |

The federal government and the labour unions on Tuesday commenced the minimum wage/consequential adjustment meeting in Abuja.

The outcome of the meeting will determine the workers’ unions next line of action. They had last week issued a threat to embark on a nationwide industrial action should the government fail to show commitment to the full implementation of the new minimum wage.

Although the labour union officials started arriving as at 1:58 p.m., the meeting did not start till 2:45 p.m.

Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the discussion centres on fixing the minimum wage.

The labour unions submitted their preferred percentage on the ‘consequential increase’ in workers’ salaries arising from the new minimum wage of N30,000 on Monday.

”Collective adjustment is like collective bargaining but has its own limitation. Let’s look at the issue and we will resolve,” the minister said.

However, the general secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Musa Lawal-Ozigi, said it is not right for workers to be suffering when a government exists.

” To avoid crisis, it is important to make the workers happy, ” he said.

Also, the acting Head of Service, Folashade Yemi-Esan, said both the government and labour unions want improved welfare for the workers.

”There is no different side here, the president is worried about the welfare workers too so we will have a fruitful deliberation,” he said.

The unions had asked their branches across the country to get set for industrial action.

The labour unions had earlier issued a communiqué, warning that economic activities would be shut from October 16.

They said they would go on strike if the federal government failed to reconvene a meeting of the committee on consequential adjustments of workers salaries based on the new minimum wage.

Grouse

The major issue delaying the full implementation of the minimum wage is the percentage salary increase for certain categories of workers.
Labour is demanding a 29 per cent salary increase for officers on salary level 07 to 14 and 24 per cent adjustment for officers on salary grade level 15 to 17.
But the federal government had presented a proposal of 11 per cent salary increase for officers on grade level 07 to14 and 6.5 per cent adjustment for workers of grade level 15 to 17.
The labour minister declared the technical session of the meeting open at 3:08 p.m.

Details later…

Hundreds of Abia State pensioners have protested the payment of their pension arrears, as well as the alleged failure of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu-led administration in the state to enhance their welfares.

Speaking at the Abia House of Assembly premises while being received by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji flanked by some State lawmakers, the pensioners led by their executives, said they were at the State Assembly complex to solicit the support of the current 7th Assembly in line with their current legislative reforms of institutions and processes in the State to resolve their pension arrears.

Responding on behalf of members of the Assembly, the Speaker, Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji, promised the pensioners in the State that the 7th Abia State House of Assembly will collaborate with the Executive arm in finding speedy and lasting solution to their pension arrears.

He said, “I will also want to charge you not to allow themselves to be used by mischievous politicians to achieve their selfish purposes of destabilizing the State. I’m assuring that the issue of pension arrears in Abia State will soon be a thing of the past”.

The speaker, told the pensioners that the present administration in the Abia Assembly was working hard to ensure the issue of pension arrears is solved in the state.

500 personnel of the Zonal and Bauchi State Sector Command of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) have been vaccinated against Yellow fever which is rampaging as a killer disease at the moment.

This development is following the recent outbreak of the disease in Bauchi State which has so far led to the death of over 15 people mostly from two LGAs of Alkaleri and Tafawa-Balewa.

The vaccination exercise was carried out by the Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BSPHCDA), on the FRSC Zonal and Bauchi State Sector Command officials on Monday in the state.

While speaking in an interview with our Correspondent shortly after he was vaccinated, the Zonal Commander, of FRSC, Assistant Corps Marshall, Imoh Etuk, commended the Bauchi State Ministry of Health for the gesture and noted that it will go a long way in protecting men of the Corps from being infected with the killer disease.

He said: “These vaccines were donated by the Bauchi State Ministry of Health so that our people are properly immunized against yellow fever. We cannot do this end of the year patrol without us being sound and fit, so if there is an outbreak of yellow fever, you can be sure that it will affect our staff. And therefore, there would be a traffic upsurge and people will not be able to ensure that they do the needful”.

Imoh Etuk added that “We are very grateful to the Bauchi State Ministry of Health for this gesture of ensuring that our people are properly vaccinated and it is only a healthy body that can do a proper work*.

“We are expecting a total of 500 staff to be properly vaccinated, after this, we will also extend it to their families and we are really grateful to the Ministry for this,” he added.

Imoh Etuk used the opportunity to call on all motorists to obey traffic rules, especially during the ’ember’ months in order to stay alive.

He also advised motorists to ensure that they service their vehicles properly and also do proper journey management saying, “because road safety is a state of the mind. If your mind is not properly structured to receive messages, that’s also a problem.”

The Zonal Corps Marshal added: “Most importantly, they should not travel by night because most of the crashes that happen are during that time of the day. Since people have the fundamental human right to travel anytime, we are advising, we are not enforcing, that they should plan their journeys and avoid traveling at night.”

Also speaking, a staff of the BSPHCDA who was the team leader, Maryam Dauda, said that the vaccination is necessary because of the casualties recorded in the state saying, “This vaccination is to protect them against the yellow fever disease since we have the outbreak in Bauchi” .

“This vaccination is necessary because it kills human beings and we have recorded so many deaths, so we are here to protect them do that we will not have an outbreak within the Road Safety because during their work, they interact with people and because of this, vaccinating them is very important,” she further said.

scores 700th career goal

Cristiano Ronaldo reached a career landmark on Monday by scoring his 700th career goal in Portugal’s Euro 2020 qualifier at Ukraine.

The 34-year-old scored a penalty as Portugal lost 2-1.

His 700 goals so far have come from 973 matches – and he has scored at least once in 458 of those.

His goal in the 2-1 loss to Ukraine was also his 95th for Portugal, leaving only Iranian Ali Daei in front in the international charts on 109 goals.

The win for Ukraine, meanwhile, means they have qualified for Euro 2020.

Ronaldo’s goal means he joins an elite group of players to have hit at least 700 goals in their career.

Gerd Muller, Ferenc Puskas, Pele, Romario, Josef Bican are the only players to have scored more than Ronaldo

According to data from Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, Juventus forward Ronaldo is still some way behind the most prolific player of all time, with Czech-Austrian Josef Bican scoring 805 career goals.

Next on the list is Brazil legend Romario, who bagged 772, while his compatriot Pele is third on 767.

Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas hit 746 goals, while former Germany striker Gerd Muller rounds out the top five with 735 goals.

A career packed with goals

Real Madrid were the biggest beneficiary of Ronaldo’s goals.

He scored 450 times for the Spanish giants, with 118 of his 700 goals coming during the early part of his career at Manchester United from 2003 to 2009.

His 95 goals for Portugal is more than double the tally of any other player to have featured for the national team. Pauleta has the second most with 47.

Andorra, Armenia, Latvia and Sweden are the countries to have suffered the most at the hands of Ronaldo, who has scored five goals against each of them.

He has four apiece versus Estonia, Faroe Islands, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg and the Netherlands but has never scored against France, Germany, Italy or England.

At club level, Sevilla (27), Atletico Madrid (25), Getafe (23), Celta Vigo (20) and Barcelona (18) are the teams Ronaldo has scored the most against.

Ronaldo is no stranger to breaking records. You name it, he has probably broken it.

Most Champions League goals, most goals in a Champions League season, most goals for Real Madrid, most appearances in European Championships, most Portugal caps, to name but a few.

The list is almost endless. So what is left for him to achieve?

There is still his ongoing tussle with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to be statistically the outright best player in Europe.

Ronaldo’s goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League at the start of the month took him up to 605 club goals, two above Messi’s 603.

The pair are the joint all-time top goalscorers in Europe’s top five leagues on 419. Ronaldo has 422 league goals, but his three in Portugal for Sporting Lisbon do not count as one of the top leagues.

Ronaldo still needs four Champions League final goals to overhaul Puskas’ and Alfredo di Stefano’s record of seven, while he needs to score in the competition again next season to match Ryan Giggs’ record of netting in 16 consecutive seasons.